Houston beginnings hold special place to Horry, Cassell

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Sam Cassell and Robert Horry won two championships in Houston before being traded away in a deal the brought Charles Barkley to the Rockets. (File photo)

Sam Cassell has enjoyed the same ritual through many years and two arenas, but it will be more meaningful come Saturday night.

When he takes the floor at Toyota Center as a competitor in the All Star Weekend’s Shooting Stars competition, he will do what he had long done after leaving the Rockets, returning to Houston as an opposing player or assistant coach.

“I look up to the banners we put up,” Cassell said. “You have to understand. We won championships here in Houston. We were the first team in the city to have ever won a championship. That’s huge.”

But this time he will share that private custom with Robert Horry, his teammate on those title teams and Saturday.

For them, this is far from a reunion, having crossed paths more times than they can remember. But it does stir memories of those championship days, when they were the “puppies” on the Rockets, and of the teammates with whom they shared those glory days.

“Me and Rob were just talking about that,” Cassell said. “You come back to things like this. And the reminiscing goes on. You see your ex-teammates. I saw Kenny Smith (Thursday) night. I’m going to see Clyde (Drexler). Dream (Hakeem Olajuwon). Rudy T (Tomjanovich). I saw Vernon Maxwell last night. Mario Elie. There were some great guys. I was blessed to have the opportunity to play with them. We might get an Otis Thorpe sighting. That would be awesome. That’s one of my favorite guys of all time. Great man.”

It will be one thing to embellish old stories; another to create new ones.

The Shooting Stars competition might not inspire that, but for the former teammates it offers a chance to reprise that on-court relationship.

“It feels good,” Horry said. “Sam and I have always been close since the day we drafted him. It’s just fun to come back to Houston and get on that court the whole time. I wish we could get the whole gang together. I wish they would put us all on a celebrity team to play somebody. It’s fun just to reminisce and catch up with each other.”

Part of that included the memories of how those times together ended.

What could have been
After their two championship runs were followed by a second-round playoff exit, Horry and Cassell were shipped to the Suns for Charles Barkley. As they pointed out, both won titles again. The Rockets have not.

“I love it,” Cassell said. “We got traded. (Horry) goes and wins five more championships. I win one more championship.

“To this day, I still don’t know why they traded me and this guy. I’m not bitter about it. That’s in the past. At that particular time, I was bitter. To win two out of three championships and get traded — wow.

“We had four guys who had surgery during the course of the year. We still made it to the semifinals and lost. Seattle swept us that year. It happens. I didn’t take getting traded kindly when I got traded from here. I never got a fair chance to be the starting point guard for this organization.”

Horry also pointed out that the trade might not have worked out for the Rockets as they hoped, though the team’s subsequent trip to the Western Conference finals was further than the season before the trade or any season since.

“We were traded at our peaks … our primes,” Horry said. “We were both at our highest points or rebounds and assists. I look back on that trade, I’m happy about it. It sent me on to win five (more) championships.

“At the moment, you’re kind of upset about it because it’s taking you away from your family and everything you’re accustomed to. The Rockets did what they thought was best for them. It ended up not being best for them.”

Fan of the future
Still, the Rockets might not have a more enthusiastic fan this season than Horry. Though traded to Phoenix and subsequently successful in Los Angeles and San Antonio, Horry never left Houston and raved about the Rockets.

“I love watching them play,” Horry said. “They’re a run-and-gun type team. The craziest thing is, you look at Kevin McHale. ‘Are you serious? This is the kind of offense you run?” You would never think that. He just didn’t seem like (that) coming out of the Boston Celtics. I guess that’s the sign of a great coach. You play with what you have. You use your team’s abilities the best. That’s what he does. The Rockets are very exciting. James Harden has emerged as one of the best players in the game. (Omer) Asik is back there holding down the fort for them.

“They like playing with each other. They play well with each other. They pat each other on the back. You never see them argue with each other. They’re playing good. James Harden is phenomenal. My favorite player, Chandler (Parsons), is doing great. I call him the glue because he holds that team together. I like watching them play. He is my favorite, not because he wears No. 25, not because he’s from the SEC. All that does help. I just like watching the guy play.”

Saturday night, Parsons will be able to watch Horry and Cassell play. Though a role in the Shooting Stars competition might not qualifying as playing again, it is enough to remind of when they began their career together.

“People don’t realize, you remember every moment,” Horry said. “I’m always going to remember the great moments of winning those championships and stepping up to that podium and raising that trophy. Everything sticks in your mind.”